R. (On the Application of Al-Jedda) V. Secretary of State for Defence (Detention and Human Rights of Suspected Terrorists‪)‬

In R (on the application of Al-Jedda) v Secretary of State for Defence ('Al-jedda'), (1) the House of Lords evaluated the legality of certain British acts in Iraq, performed while part of the multinational force ('MNF). Four Lords rejected the Secretary of State's claim that the detention of the appellant was attributable to the United Nations ('UN'), which authorised such measures in a series of Security Council Resolutions. The House went on to unanimously dismiss the appeal by Mr. Al-Jedda, upholding the decision by the Queen's Bench Divisional Court (2) and Court of Appeal (3) that his indefinite detention by United Kingdom ('UK') forces in Iraq was not contrary to the right to Liberty under article 5(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights ('the Convention'), as scheduled to the Human Rights Act 1998 (UK) ('HRA'). It was held that the application of article 5(1) was qualified by virtue of articles 25 and 103 of the United Nations Charter ('the Charter'). Introduction